Then one of the people that was in the meeting cut me off and said that what I was talking about was not accurate because they’ve done SEO before and their provider did an amazing job without doing those “other” things.

So besides lying to my face, they want to tell me what’s right and what’s wrong.

They showed me the traffic they have and how they are already doing well.

They told me about their main provider and what they actually pay for them. They talk about their work being expensive though they get 500 “great links” a month so that’s all good for them. As long as they get traffic and they make money off of it.

Basically, they want a provider that can give them even more links with a lower price.

I asked how much they spend now and asked for the site URL they needed the work on.

I took a look for 5 minutes, told them I can match the price but it will just be for 1 link (LOL) and they asked what’s so hard with it?

I laughed, excused myself and walked away. I just left. It just wasn’t worth it. I could care less.

Why?

The traffic they have is from Direct traffic. SOLELY from direct traffic because they were a popular brand. They already have a major penalty and they aren’t ranking. They weren’t even aware of this.

They lied to me.

They have a WordPress site with a bunch of unoptimized pages, broken pages, etc.

This was a referral, so I checked it out. I wouldn’t really even go and meet someone if it wasn’t.

Well, that is the last time that I’ll be doing that.

—

My Take

Anyway, that was what drove me to write about this “opinion” piece.

Getting great, legitimate links is NOT easy.

Deal with it.

You need to think of different ways to acquire those backlinks.

It’s not just by turning on a piece of software and just letting it run non-stop. Heck, even creating your own private networks isn’t easy, even if you are already in control of them. Believe me, I know how those things work as I’ve done them in the past.

Sure, once you know the right people, you can get some really awesome links relatively easy from legit websites and blogs BUT500 great links each month for pennies?

Nobody will be able to do that for you unless you wanted spam.

It takes time, experience and savvy to build some great links.

Why Isn’t it Easy?

If you are a business owner or a new link builder that came from a company with bad practices, then here are 3 main things that you need to consider.

You have to factor in manpower

You have research costs. You need to research targets, find a creative strategy, research the people involved. You also have outreach costs, successfully placed link OR not.

You have multiple direct manpower costs depending on the size of the project.

You even need to factor in the experience of the link builder as that’s another cost variable. Those with experience can net you “easy” links as they might not need content but that’s only because they have experience which makes it more valuable and NOT EASY.

You have to consider where you are linking to

Are you linking to a new creative piece? Are you linking to a landing page and is it already optimized? In any case, you’ll need to put in the work to make the most of your link building campaign.

You have to be open to paid links

No matter what, when it comes to link building, there’s always the chance that you need to pay for links. It will NEVER go away. It’s just the way it is. Some people will want compensation for the link, no matter how creative you are in persuading them.

Now, factor in all those potential COSTS for different kinds of links and the WORK involved, then TELL me how link building is still EASY.

It’s NOT CHEAP. It’s NOT EASY. DEAL WITH IT!

—

Key Takeaway

If you are a business, then please be more informed.

There are lots of providers out there that are just in it for the cash grab.

I know you are busy, as a fellow entrepreneur, I understand how busy you can get BUT don’t let your busyness destroy your business. (See what I did there wink)

Nice Article Dennis,
I like the quirkiness. Link building is the hardest think I face. To find high quality site related to the industry and convince them to give a backlink is in fact a tedious job.
Like the way you share your experience.